Marketing & Product expert, uncovering and sharing ideas

Top Online Courses from Businesses and Individuals (Not Universities)

We’ve heard from inbound marketers everywhere that the internet has changed the way people buy and connect (ahem, live) online. And now we’re seeing that the internet has changed the way people learn too.

The internet makes it possible for people to learn more things, easier and quicker. Here are two ways we see it happening every day at HubSpot Academy:

There are tons more learning opportunities available. There are more lectures, trainings, and videos accessible than ever before, and from top-tier universities and businesses too. (Aside: Companies are now starting to see the value of getting into the education/training game for their prospects and customers too – AirBNB, Uber, Shyp, Kickstarter, Postmates, Hootesuite, Tailwind, Bulletproof, etc. etc. etc.).

The internet has also made it easier for people to learn through doing. Before it was hard to get marketing experience unless you were interning or working for a company. Now you can do this all yourself. Test potential theories (e.g. which CTA works better) easier and quicker, then iterate and adapt quicker, and then produce content available to the world which contains the learnings quicker than ever too.

With the rapid cycle of change, most industries are seeing the opportunity to step ahead of traditional educational systems. Think about it, for universities and professors, a syllabus is something a professor works on for years to perfect. Now one change on the internet can throw a wrench in their plans. That’s why many people are now turning to the industry leaders who are people or businesses to learn what they need to know about a topic. Queue the reason for the article – technology is encouraging people to learn differently and from different resources too.

Think about it:

People are teaching each other via Quora and Reddit. Want to learn about history, math or marketing? Just do a simple search and find content written and then upvoted by the community. (Here’s a fun one I wrote about the most successful marketing campaign ever.)

Industry thought-leaders and top businesses are now bringing their knowledge to the masses. They’re hosting content on their own websites, on online learning platforms like Udemy or Udacity, and are even building their own proprietary software (like we did at HubSpot). Who better to learn from than the industry experts in their field.

Below are some of the top business courses provided by experts in the field: